Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Weizen Bock
Brooklyn, New York USA

750ml bottle. Pours a nice orange with a creamy well sustained off white head. Smells of citrus, bananas, perfume, some hints of residual sugar, dry malt. Taste combines a nive healthy bitterness with some caramel, perfume, citrus, spice. Finish is dry with some hints of pepper. Great beer!

My Bottom Line:
Spicy hop fireworks explode in citrusy and herbal colors atop crisp straw and bubblegum phenols in this highly endearing experiment à la Houblon Chouffe.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam protects the cloudy blond.
-The first words that came to mind to describe the aroma were "holy" and "shit".
-This remains very drinkable throughout.
-The hop signature is more intense than the Schneider-Brooklyner version, but works as well to my taste buds.
-The spicy, coniferous hop bitterness is classy.
-The mouthfeel is not as fluffy as that of the Houblon Chouffe, for example.
-Wheat contributes to the crispness and citrusy fruitiness.

Bottle.

Bottle (kindly delivered by asheft!) - sampled simultaneously with the "german" version: Golden, cloudy, mid-sized fluffy "dirty" white head; extreme "sticky" piney hoppy nose with illusions of fresly mowed grass and a lighter wheaty-fruity background; very solid dry bitter flavour, creamy MF, medium to full bodied; smooth, lingering, dry hoppy and grainy finish. Great, great stuff..... The german equivalent is made by the use of different hops, which seem to be - compared directly - a little, little bit less aromatic. Nevertheless also a superb brew.......

Tap at Barcade. 2008 version. I decided to try this again to see how it’s doing... the answer is that it’s not doing all that well. Very cloudy yellow pour with a thick sticky white head. Aroma is very sweet and bubble gummy. Orange peel, coriander and a light lemon balm aroma as well. It is significantly less tropical and fruity than I recall the initial one being. Flavour is loaded with orange/lemon peel, but the spiciness is significantly less as well. Hops are quite different and less punchy. The flavour is sort of sweet and a little bit saccharine-like. In a way it reminds me of some of the crappy citrus flavours witbiers (Leinenkugels comes to mind). Low bitterness and a long sticky finish. Man, I loved this so much the first time around.7 5 7 4 14

Tap at Blind Tiger. Can’t believe I’m the first to rate this one. Very hazy yellow colour. Less brown/green than the Schneider-brewed version. Creamy white head. The aroma is very fruity and herbal. Soft clove, herbal dry hops and loads of the perfumey yeasty character that I recall from the original. There is also a beautiful tangerine/orange/mango that plays beautifully with the clove and light banana/apricot from the yeast. Much less herbal than the German version with that character replace by citrus. Despite the differences, it’s amazing how similar these two beers are to one another... the yeast really shows its personality in both of these brews. Loads of wheat flavour as it should be along with a light floral note. Very fruity with light resinousness/herbal notes. Juicy and very tasty. I think this beer is better integrated than the German version, but the German version is just so much stranger that I give it the nod. I wouldn’t complain about drinking either of them though. 8 5 8 5 16

Draft at Zeno’s. Honestly I didn’t see much of a difference between this and the first version. Perhaps the hops were toned down, but they both came off as huge, high gravity wheat beers. Nose of honey, lemon and fruit, with heavy spices and white pepper. Palate is also peppery and prickly, with a medium level of tartness. Almost boozy sometimes. Good, but again, not really different from the first version.

Bottle. Cloudy light golden color with a moderate ecru colored head. Aged hops and mild barnyard scents. Mild banana, light fruit and cloves also in the aroma. Not an inviting nose for me. Lots of sweet wheat in the flavors. Grapefruit and cloves in the middle. Melon and key lime in the finish. Bi-polar brew for me. There are times I like it and then something comes in and I’m less than enamored.

Draft at Dilly Deli. Poured an hazy dark orange color with an average fizzy white head that mostly lasted with fair lacing. Heavy sour citrus, banana and clove and alcohol aroma. Medium body with a dry sticky texture. Heavy balanced bittersweet flavor with a medium spicy bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Solid drinkable beer.

Bottle. Hazy orange yellow with a white foam. Aromas are floral with wheat and plenty of grapefruit. Spicy with tropical fruit mix and banana. Flavours are sweet wheat and caramel with spiced oranges and banana. Yeasty with lots of tropical fruit. Peppery and hoppy on the finish with warming alcohol. Very good.